Cleveland Cavaliers trading Collin Sexton would be a mistake
By Zane Harris
Back in the offseason of 2017, the Cleveland Cavaliers were beginning a new chapter in their teams history. Long time point guard Kyrie Irving had had enough of playing second fiddle to LeBron James and told the Cavaliers front office that he wanted to be traded from the team.
The team and newly-appointed general manager Koby Altman gave in to Irving’s requests eventually and he was traded to the Boston Celtics in return for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and an unprotected first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets. That was to go with a 2020 second-round pick, which was later the Miami Heat’s pick/compensation for Thomas’ injury situation later.
Nonetheless, it was thought at the time that the Cavaliers, while Irving was dealt, did get a few quality pieces back, provided Thomas could get healthy. Unfortunately, Thomas and Crowder had very slow starts in Cleveland and were traded from the team before even making it a full season with them.
Along with this, the Nets had a better season than expected and their pick slipped to the eighth overall in the 2018 NBA Daft. With that pick, the Cavaliers selected Alabama point guard, Collin Sexton.
Shortly after the draft, LeBron James left the team for the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency and the Cavaliers found themselves forced to the bottom of the league and into a rebuild.
Sexton has been one of the few bright pieces through this rebuild. While he has not been the savior that the Cavs have desperately needed, he has been a consistent player who has shown a great deal of growth through his first three seasons in the NBA.
That said, it appears that Cleveland is currently shopping him around, and you can view more regarding that here. The Golden State Warriors are also said to show interest in Sexton, for one, although their #7 pick is not something they’d be willing to part with, nor a player such as James Wiseman, per a report from Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and the Locked on Cavs podcast.
Dammarell did state how the Cavs could make an effort with future firsts from there to go for the #1 pick/Cade Cunningham via trade, though.
More on this - Cleveland could get pick no. 14 for Sexton and then try and trade 3, 14, and 1-2 future firsts to Detroit for the ability to take Cade Cunningham.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) July 18, 2021
Again, like the talks with New York and Miami everything remains fluid but the Sexton trade front is heating up. https://t.co/HF9sdsgfPd
Even so, it’s difficult to say if Detroit would even consider that, and regarding others, multiple teams have shown interest in Sexton, but, seemingly rumored potential offers have been laughable.
They Cavs should not have even considered trading Sexton or let rumors/potential trade scenarios get as far as they already have.
However, if they do end up trading him for much less than he is worth, Altman must be relieved of his title of GM of this team.